For parents, moments of terror, relief

Nanci G. Hutson

Updated 9:55 pm, Friday, December 14, 2012

Photo: Don Emmert, AFP/Getty Images

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Unidentified people embrace on December 14, 2012 at the aftermath of a school shooting at a Connecticut elementary school that brought police swarming into the leafy neighborhood, while other area schools were put under lock-down, police and local media said. Local media quoted that the gunman had died at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, northeast of New York City. At least 27 people, including 18 children, were killed on Friday when at least one shooter opened fire at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, CBS News reported, citing unnamed officials. AFP PHOTO/DON EMMERTDON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images

Unidentified people embrace on December 14, 2012 at the aftermath of a school shooting at a Connecticut elementary school that brought police swarming into the leafy neighborhood, while other area schools

People leave the Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire House in tears after a shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, Friday morning, Dec. 14, 2012 in Newtown, Conn. A man opened fire Friday inside two classrooms at the Connecticut elementary school where his mother was a teacher, killing 26 people, including 20 children, as youngsters cowered in corners and closets and trembled helplessly to the sound of shots reverberating through the building.

People leave the Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire House in tears after a shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, Friday morning, Dec. 14, 2012 in Newtown, Conn. A man opened fire Friday inside two classrooms at

A school bus carrying high school student drives up Yogananda Street, in Newtown, Conn., where one adult was found dead in a home following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School Dec. 14th, 2012.

A school bus carrying high school student drives up Yogananda Street, in Newtown, Conn., where one adult was found dead in a home following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School Dec. 14th, 2012.

Photo: Ned Gerard

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An ambulance leaves Yogananda Street, in Newtown, Conn., where one adult was found dead in a home following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School Dec. 14th, 2012.

An ambulance leaves Yogananda Street, in Newtown, Conn., where one adult was found dead in a home following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School Dec. 14th, 2012.

Photo: Ned Gerard

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Parents walk away from the Sandy Hook Elementary School with their children following a shooting at the Newtown, Conn. school where authorities say a gunman opened fire, leaving 27 people dead, including 20 children, Friday, Dec. 14, 2012. (AP Photo/The Journal News, Frank Becerra Jr.) MANDATORY CREDIT, NYC OUT, NO SALES, TV OUT, NEWSDAY OUT; MAGS OUT

Parents walk away from the Sandy Hook Elementary School with their children following a shooting at the Newtown, Conn. school where authorities say a gunman opened fire, leaving 27 people dead, including 20

NEWTOWN -- Therese Lestik held tight to the hand of her daughter, Ava, a Sandy Hook Elementary School kindergartner who escaped Friday's carnage, as she walked and talked on a cellphone on Riverside Drive.

Not far from the chaos, as other parents abandoned cars in the middle of the road and raced toward the scene, Lestik rushed to meet her husband. She arrived as a parade of black SWAT trucks and State Police cruisers roared up Philo Curtis Road.

"I'm in shock, like everyone else,'' Lestik said, as she walked with her daughter.

Their reunion -- a quick, tight, roadside embrace -- was one among the scenes of Friday's relief and horror.

Alberta Bajraliu said she lost her composure as she and her son pulled up to the school and spotted her daughter, Venesa, a 9-year-old, fourth-grader at Sandy Hook Elementary.

"I started to cry, and my daughter -- she's there and she's so innocent," Bajraliu said.

Venesa said her art teacher shepherded students into the classroom after they heard multiple shots nearby.

Minutes later, she said, a group of "police officers" burst into the classroom and escorted them outside, instructing students to cover their eyes as they walked through the hallways.

Later, behind St. John's Episcopal Church, police with rifles roamed a nearby backyard as one father, Richard Wilford, stood with his children, a 7-year-old son, Richie, and pre-school daughter, and spoke into the news microphones.

Richie stood close, but silent.

Clearly relieved, Wilford said he was startled by an automatic telephone alert from the district, saying Sandy Hook Elementary was in lockdown because of a shooting. He and his wife joined the throng that rushed to the school.

"What human being walks into an elementary school and starts shooting?'' Wilford asked. "My son said he heard loud noises and was taken to a corner, and everyone was safe.''

Wilford said no words "come close to describing the sheer terror that your child is in a place where there is violence, and you can't help protect them. You're powerless.''

But he was quick to dispel any indictment of the school, the neighborhood or the community.

"The school isn't evil because someone did something evil,'' Wilford said. "... I love the people here. This is just a horrific incident perpetrated by an individual who doesn't play by the rules.''

Holding the hands of his two children, Wilford walked amid long lines of police cars and media.

Wilford said he just wanted to go home and play football with his children in the backyard.

"My prayers are with all the families,'' he said.

Lynn Wasik, her arms wrapped around the neck of her 8-year-old daughter, Alexis, a brown-haired, third-grader, said she didn't "even remember driving here.''

For Alexis, the day began as any other, but during her reading lesson she heard police yelling, others stomping through the halls and even more footfalls on the roof.

Her teacher quickly closed the classroom door, pulled down the blinds, shut off the lights and shepherded the class to a rear corner of the room. There they huddled together until they were told to "get out of the building, quick."

"I was kind of scared, and sick to my stomach,'' Alexis said.

"I don't want this to be real,'' her mother said. "My heart is in a million pieces."